Method and system for dynamic allocation of resources in a cellular network

ABSTRACT

One example method is provided for dynamic allocation of air interface resources in a cellular network. The method can include at least three wireless cells located within a geographical proximity of each other. The method can include determining, by a central managing entity, one or more classification rules for classifying each of said plurality of mobile devices according to the one or more classification rules. The method can also include providing, by the central management entity, to a group of base stations associated with the at least three cells, information that can include, at least in part, information that relates to the determined one or more classification rules and information that relates to semi-static allocation of blocks of air interface resources for use by one or more specific members of the group of base stations.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority under 35U.S.C. §119 from Israeli Patent Application No. 224926 filed in theIsrael Patent Office on Feb. 26, 2013, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FORDYNAMIC ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES IN A CELLULAR NETWORK,” the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to a system and a method for allocating resourcesin wireless networks, and in particularly to allocating resources andmitigating interference in cellular mobile communication systems.

BACKGROUND

The 3GPP Long Term Evolution (“LTE”) Specifications define two types ofinterference mitigation techniques: The first one being interferencemitigation by interference reduction, and the second one is interferencemitigation by inter cell interference coordination (ICIC). The 3GPPstandard handles the two types of interference minimization differently.The first type, interference reduction, is used in conjunction withcoverage and capacity optimization. The enablement of interferencereduction are RF techniques such as antenna tilt, transmit powerreduction, and handover mechanisms.

The LTE Recommendation has defined an interface between base stations(referred to herein as “eNBs”) which enables the transfer of ICICrelated indicators. This interface is referred to as X2. These ICICfunction indicators are: Relative Narrowband Transmit Power Indicator(“RNTPI”), High Interference Indicator (“HII”), and InterferenceOverload Indicator (“OI”).

The RNTPI indicator message is sent to neighbor eNBs. It contains 1 bitper each physical resource block (PRB) in the downlink transmission,indicating if the transmission power associated with that PRB will begreater than a pre-defined threshold. Thus, neighbor eNBs may anticipatewhich bands would suffer more severe interference and take theappropriate scheduling decisions immediately, rather than waiting to andrelying on the UEs' Channel Quality Information (“CQI”) reports.

The HII indicator for uplink transmissions has a somewhat similarfunction as that which was described above in connection with the RNTPImessage for downlink transmissions. There is one bit per each PRB,enabling the neighboring eNBs to assess whether they should expect highinterference power in the near future. Reference Signal Received Power(“RSRP”) measurements which are reported as part of handover measurementreports, can identify cell edge UEs. In a similar way, this indicatorcan be used to identify the bands used in a frequency-partitioningscheme.

While the previously described X2 messages are sent out proactively byeNBs, the OI indicator is only triggered when high-interference in theuplink direction is detected by an eNB. An overload indication will besent to neighbor eNBs whose UEs are potentially the source of this highinterference. The message contains a low, medium, or high interferencelevel indication per each PRB. However, the question, which cell is theone responsible for the high interference is of course not a trivialquestion to answer.

According to the 3GPP Specifications, X2 based ICIC does not include anyprovisioning for a decision making process, consequently, ICICalgorithms in base stations, which are originated by different vendors,may use completely different logics and criteria. This essentiallylimits the X2-based ICIC solution to areas where the base stationsoriginate from a single vendor. While in existing macro deployments thisconstrain might still be achieved, for modern multi-RAT networks (LTEoverlay over UMTS network) and HetNet networks, such a requirement ofhaving one vendor's equipment is too restrictive, if not impossible.

According to 3GPP TS 36.300, Inter-cell interference coordination isassociated with managing radio resources (notably the radio resourceblocks) such that inter-cell interference is kept under control. ICIC isinherently a multi-cell, radio resource management (“RRM”) function thatneeds to take into account information (e.g. the resource usage statusand traffic load situation) obtained from various cells. Furthermore, anICIC method may be different in the uplink and downlink.

The 3GPP Release 10 introduced a new LTE network concept for theheterogeneous networks (HetNets), in contrast to previous networkreleases, which deal with homogeneous networks. HetNet is defined inthat release as a network of eNBs with different capabilities, mostimportantly, different Tx-power classes.

However, heterogeneous networks pose new ICIC challenges. A first ICICchallenge involves macro UE that roams about a Home eNB (HeNB) and isnot part of the closed subscriber group (“CSG”). In that scenario theMacro eNB UE transmission will become uplink interference to the HomeeNB authorized UEs. The second ICIC challenge is macro eNB transmissionthat forms downlink interference to Pico eNB center cell UE. In order toenable the use of HetNet, enhanced ICIC (eICIC) Rel. 10 requires thatall members of a HetNet (Macro, Pico, HeNB) should be capable ofinterconnecting by using the X2 interface.

Soft Fractional Frequency Reuse (“FRR”) technique implements separationof transmissions in neighbor LTE cells. The separation is performed byallocating time-frequency resources in blocks (partitions) that appearas rectangles in time-frequency plane as illustrated for example inFIG. 1. This concept may be demonstrated in the following example. Foruplink (“UL”) transmissions, a time-frequency block X can be allocatedto a group of cell edge UEs in cell A, whereas time-frequency block Y isallocated to a group of cell edge UEs in cell B. If X and Y do notoverlap, this scheme may alleviate mutual interference between cells Aand B.

There are many FFR schemes used for HetNets that allow significant reuseof spectrum. For example in FIGS. 2A and 2B, where A . . . D denotecertain “chunks” of the UL frequency channel that are allocated for useby Macro eNBs and for use by Metro eNBs, with differentiation betweencell center and cell edge UEs. Such schemes reduce interference becauseadjacent cells (particularly a Metro cell that can be located within aMacro cell) are using separate orthogonal parts of the spectrum.

However, a solution is still required that enables automatic bandwidthpartitioning for example between macro and metro eNBs, and particularlyin cases where base stations produced by different vendors and locatedat the same geographical vicinity, are involved.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure may be summarized by referring to the appended claims.

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a method and systemto enable dynamic allocation of air interface resources of the cellularnetwork.

It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a method andsystem to enable dynamic allocation of air interface resources of thecellular network partially by a central management entity and partiallyby local entities.

Other objects of the present disclosure will become apparent from thefollowing description.

According to a first embodiment there is provided a method for dynamicallocation of air interface resources in a cellular network comprisingat least three wireless cells, all located within a geographicalproximity of each other and a plurality of mobile devices currentlylocated within these at least three wireless cells, wherein the methodcomprises the steps of:

-   -   a) determining, by a central managing entity, one or more        classification rules for classifying each of the plurality of        mobile devices according to s, wherein the one or more        classification rules are based on the one or more members of the        group that consists of: the base station which provides service        to the respective mobile device; location of the respective        mobile device within the wireless cell (e.g. at the cell edge,        at the cell core/center), wherein the latter classification rule        may be defined for example in terms of range of the signal        strength, path loss, SINR, and the like;    -   b) providing, by the central management entity, to a group of        base stations associated with the at least three cells,        information that comprises:        -   b.1) information that relates to the determined one or more            classification rules;        -   b.2) information that relates to semi-static allocation of            blocks of air interface resources adapted for use by one or            more specific members of the group of base stations, wherein            these blocks of air interface resources enable            communications between base stations and mobile devices            communicating therewith that match one or more            classification rules, and wherein no coordination is carried            out between any member of the group of base station and any            other member of that group regarding the use of the blocks            of air interface resources, hence these blocks of air            interface resources may be considered as being resources for            uncoordinated use; and        -   b.3) information that relates to allocation of blocks of air            interface resources adapted for use by at least two members            of the group of base stations, wherein these blocks of air            interface resources enable communications between base            stations and mobile devices communicating therewith that            match one or more classification rules, and wherein            coordination is carried out between at least two members of            the group of base stations regarding the use of the blocks            of air interface resources, hence these blocks of air            interface resources may be considered as being resources for            coordinated use;    -   c) exchanging messages directly between at least two members of        the group of base stations in order to coordinate there-between        which part (e.g. different parts) of air interface resource        blocks allocated by the central management entity for        coordinated use, will be used by each of these at least two        members.

The term “semi-static” as used herein throughout the specification andclaims should be understood as characterization of one out of twoprocesses being carried out in parallel, wherein the frequency at whichthe other of the two processes is carried out is substantially higherthan the frequency at which the semi static process is carried out. Inthe present case, the frequency at which the process defined in step bis carried out is substantially lower than the frequency at which step cis carried out, hence step b is semi static with respect to step b.

The term “base station” (BS) as used herein throughout the specificationand claims should be understood as a communication entity that containsequipment for transmitting and receiving radio signals (transceivers),antennas. This term should be understood to encompass eNB for example ifthe cellular network is compatible with the LTE Specifications.

By yet another embodiment, an air interface resource block ischaracterized by at least one member of the group that consists of:interval time for transmission, transmission frequency, a set ofsubcarriers, and the like.

By still another embodiment, information related to coordinated use ofparticular air interface resource block, includes settings oftransmission power, for example power density values or limits, forcontrol and user planes at the base station or at the mobile device forwhich the air interface resource block is allocated.

In accordance with another embodiment, the method further comprises astep of:

-   -   d) repeating step c) to reestablish which part of the air        interface resource blocks allocated by the central management        entity for coordinated use, will be used by each of the base        stations.

Preferably, step c) is repeated every pre-defined period of time whichextends up to few hundreds of msec, e.g. from about few tens of msec upto about 150 to 200 msec.

In accordance with another embodiment, steps a) and b) are repeated at afrequency which is substantially less than a frequency at which step c)is repeated.

By still another embodiment, the information that relates to allocationof blocks of air interface resources according to step b) iscommunicated to respective base stations in a form of time basedperiodic pattern having a length of N radio frames. In such a case, thenumber and properties of the blocks of air interface resources forcoordinated and uncoordinated use are preferably synchronously changedby all participating base stations in every air interface frame of Nconsecutive air interface frames.

By yet another embodiment, the cellular network is a heterogeneouscellular network (“HetNet”) comprising at least one macro cell and atleast two small cells, all located within a geographical proximity ofeach other, wherein the group of base stations comprises at least onebase station associated with a macro cell and at least two base stationseach associated with a different small cell, and wherein the at leasttwo members that exchange messages directly with each other in order tocoordinate which part of the blocks of air interface resources allocatedby the central management entity for coordinated use, will be used byeach of these at least two base stations, are the at least two basestations associated with small cells.

According to another aspect, there is provided a communication systemconfigured to dynamically allocate air interface resources in a cellularnetwork comprising at least three wireless cells, all located within ageographical proximity of each other, and a plurality of mobile devicescurrently located within these at least three wireless cells, whereinthe system comprises:

-   -   (I) a central management entity that comprises:        -   (a) one or more processors operable to:            -   (a.1) determine one or more classification rules for                classifying each of the plurality of mobile devices,                wherein the one or more classification rules are based                on the one or more members of the group that consists                of: the base station which provides service to the                respective mobile device; location of the respective                mobile device within the wireless cell (e.g. at the cell                edge, at the cell core/center), wherein the latter                classification rule may be defined for example in terms                of range of the signal strength, path loss, SINR, and                the like;            -   (a.2) provide to a group of base stations associated                with the at least three cells, information that                comprises:                -   (a.2.1) information that relates to the determined                    one or more classification rules;                -   (a.2.2) information that relates to semi-static                    allocation of blocks of air interface resources                    adapted for use by one or more specific members of                    the group of base stations, wherein these blocks of                    air interface resources would enable communications                    between base stations and mobile devices                    communicating therewith that match one or more                    classification rules, and wherein no coordination                    would be carried out between any member of the group                    of base station and any other member of that group                    regarding the use of the blocks of air interface                    resources; and                -   (a.2.3) information that relates to allocation of                    blocks of air interface resources adapted for use by                    at least two members of the group of base stations,                    wherein these blocks of air interface resources                    would enable communications between base stations                    and mobile devices communicating therewith that                    match one or more classification rules, and wherein                    coordination would be carried out between at least                    two members of the group of base stations regarding                    the use of the blocks of air interface resources;        -   (b) one or more transmitters operable to convey the            information generated by said one or more processors,            towards the group of base stations; and    -   (II) a group of base stations configured for use within the at        least three cells, and wherein each of the base stations        comprises at least one transceiver operable to exchange        information with the central management entity and with at least        one member of the group of base stations, and at least one        transceiver operable to exchange information with a plurality of        mobile devices associated therewith, and wherein at least two        members of the group of base stations are configured to exchange        messages directly there-between in order to coordinate which        part of the blocks of air interface resources allocated by the        central management entity for coordinated use, will be used by        each of these at least two base stations.

The central management entity (e.g. a Centralized Self OptimizationNetwork, a “cSON”, entity) may be connected either to a managementsystem of the cellular network and/or to a management system of aplurality of small cells, thereby enabling a managing entity (e.g. thecSON) to retrieve and provide information from the management system itis connected to and/or in a synchronized manner from both systems if itis connected indeed to both.

By yet another embodiment of this aspect, an air interface resourceblock is characterized by at least one member of the group that consistsof: interval time for transmission, transmission frequency, a set ofsubcarriers, and the like.

According to still another embodiment, the at least two members of thegroup of base stations are further operable to repeat the exchange ofthe messages in order to negotiate use of resources within the blocks ofair interface resources designated for coordinated use, i.e. forreestablishing which part of air interface resource blocks allocated bythe central management entity for coordinated use, will be used by eachof the base stations. Preferably, these messages are repeated everypre-defined period of time, which extends up to tens of msec.

In accordance with another embodiment, the one or more processors of thecentral management entity are further operable to re-define at least oneof the one or more classification rule for classifying at least one ofthe plurality of mobile devices and the information provisioning to agroup of base stations associated with the at least three cells, at afrequency which is substantially less than that at which the at leasttwo members of the group of base stations exchange messagesthere-between.

By yet another embodiment, the cellular network is a heterogeneouscellular network (“HetNet”) comprising at least one macro cell and atleast two small cells, all located within a geographical proximity ofeach other, wherein the group of base stations comprises at least onebase station associated with a macro cell and at least two base stationseach associated with a different small cell, and wherein the at leasttwo members that exchange messages directly with each other in order tocoordinate which part of the blocks of air interface resources allocatedby the central management entity for coordinated use, will be used byeach of these at least two base stations, are the at least two basestations associated with small cells.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference isnow made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1—illustrates an example of a prior art allocation oftime-frequency resources in blocks (partitions) that appear asrectangles in time-frequency plane;

FIGS. 2A and 2B—illustrate prior art FFR schemes used for HetNets thatallow significant reuse of spectrum;

FIG. 3—exemplifies a prior art case of isolated LTE small cells deployedas overlay to LTE macro deployment;

FIG. 4—exemplifies an example of LTE metro cells (small cells) deployedas a cluster with an underlying LTE macro deployment, and wherein one ormore resource blocks are allocated for coordinated use by the cluster ofmetro cells;

FIG. 5—illustrates a system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6—exemplifies a method of carrying out an embodiment of the presentdisclosure in the system illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7—illustrates a method of carrying out interference mitigation byusing coordinated and uncoordinated air interface resource blocksaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8—illustrates a method of carrying out interference mitigation byusing coordinated and uncoordinated air interface resource blocksaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure where time basedpattern of the length N=2 radio frames is used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In this disclosure, the term “comprising” is intended to have anopen-ended meaning so that when a first element is stated as comprisinga second element, the first element may also include one or more otherelements that are not necessarily identified or described herein, orrecited in the claims.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a betterunderstanding of the present disclosure by way of examples. It should beapparent, however, that the present disclosure may be practiced withoutthese specific details.

Let us consider a particular example of deploying eNBs in a HetNet,which comprises small cells (i.e. metro cells), wherein the eNBs areconfigured to operate in one of the following two modes:

TABLE 1 Mode Definition Mode A (Prior art) The MLB dSON function isdisabled by the cSON over Itf-N. The cSON application directly managesthe eNB parameters over Itf-N as specified in 3GPP TS 28.657, TS 28.658,TS 28.659 Mode B The MLB dSON function is configured and enabled by thecSON over Itf-N. Certain parameters may remain under the control of thecSON

In recent years, wireless networks operators have started to deploytheir own or rely on end users to buy very small Base Stations, in orderto meet the increasing demand for data traffic. This new type of cellsites, referred to herein below as “small cells” or “metro cells”, usedin conjunction with wireless cells of the traditional cellular networks(macro cells). Networks that include both macro cells and metrocells arereferred to herein as heterogeneous networks (HetNets).

The term “small cells” as used herein and throughout the specificationand claims encompass femtocells, picocells, microcells, and metrocells.Small-cell networks can also be realized by means of distributed radiotechnology consisting of centralized baseband units and remote radioheads. Beamforming technology (focusing a radio signal on a veryspecific area) can be utilized to further enhance or focus small cellcoverage. A common factor in all these approaches to small cells is thatthey are centrally managed by mobile network operators.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a prior art solution using the mode Aconfiguration discussed above. In this example, isolated LTE eNodeBs aredeployed as an overlay onto UMTS or LTE macro deployment, wherein inthis example LTE metro cells are deployed as a cluster with anunderlying LTE macro deployment. This cluster of LTE eNodeBs shouldpreferably be made by a single vendor, in order to ensure that the X2interface that extends between the metro eNBs can be activated and theICIC function can be enabled.

The following is a simplified example demonstrating one option ofcarrying out the above-discussed Mode A:

-   -   1) The cSON collects results of measurements made by UEs (via        MDT if available).    -   2) Once every pre-defined time interval, the cSON:        -   selects a parameter for modification e.g. the distance            between the UE and the serving eNB, and modify the parameter            in certain direction; and        -   determines key indicators e.g. the total network throughput.            In case of improvement, the modified value should be kept;            otherwise, the change (modification) should be reversed.

Now, let us assume that macro or metro eNBs are operable in accordancewith the present disclosure by implementing Mode B referred to above.FIG. 4 illustrates an example for implementing such Mode Bconfiguration.

Examples of implementing such a configuration are demonstrated in thefollowing non-exclusive Table 2:

TABLE 2 Parameters Examples Definition of classification rules Theclassification rule ″CELL_EDGE1″ of UEs based on spatial regionsincludes UEs that are connected in which the UEs are located to eNB#123456 or eNB #789012 operating according to Mode B, and located at adistance from the serving eNB which is greater than 30 m Theclassification rule ″CELL_CENTER1″ includes UEs that are connected tothe eNB #123456 or eNB #789012 and located at distance from the servingeNB which is less than 30 m Parameters that define air ULBlock1 = set ofsubcarriers with interface resource blocks in the indices N1 . . . N2,over the whole time-frequency plane Radio Frame. This block is foruncoordinated use. ULBlock2 = set of subcarriers with indices N3 . . .N4, over the whole Radio Frame. This block is for coordinated use.Allocation of partitions to UEs ULBlock1 is allocated for UL andtransmit power limitations transmissions by UEs that match theclassification rule CELL_CENTER1. Maximum allowed UL transmit powerdensity associated with such UEs in ULBlock1 is M₁ ULBlock2 is allocatedfor UL transmissions by UEs that are connected to the eNBs #123456 and#789012 and located at the spatial region ″CELL_EDGE1″ Maximum allowedUL transmit power density associated with such UEs in ULBlock2 is M₂

In other words, the central management entity defines one or moreclassification rules for classifying the various mobile devices; forexample CELL_EDGE1 in Table 2, transmit these rules to respective eNBs,and the eNB then applies these classification rule(s) to classify themobile devices being in communication therewith.

For the case of Mode B operation, let us consider X2-based ICIC whereeNBs exchange real time information that relates to past and futureevents associated with interference management. This in fact exemplifiesan embodiment of the present disclosure according to which an X2-baseddSON is configured by the central management entity, namely the cSON,and may include any one of the following:

-   -   RNTP—Relative Narrowband Transmit Power (a proactive signal);    -   OI—UL Interference Overload Indication (a reactive signal); and    -   HII—High Interference indication (a proactive signal).

This information is preferably used under real time conditions.

The following is a simplified example demonstrating an option ofconfiguring the X2 ICIC by the cSON as follows:

-   -   RNTP Threshold as defined in TS 36.423;    -   Ranges to UL Interference Overload Indication to define        high/medium/low interference; and    -   Threshold to differentiate between “high” and “low” interference        levels.

Now, in accordance with the present disclosure, let us consider a methodfor allocating partitions (blocks) for coordinated use by a group(cluster) of eNBs operating in Mode B configuration.

FIG. 5 demonstrates an embodiment of an LTE system 500 for carrying outthe present disclosure in a heterogeneous network (HetNet). The systemillustrated in this figure comprises a central management entity (e.g. acSON) 510, and three eNBs namely, 520, 530 and 540. The 520 eNB isoperable in a macro cell, whereas eNBs 530 and 540 are each operable ina metro cell.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of carrying out the disclosure in thesystem illustrated in FIG. 5. It should be noted that in this case, themetro eNBs may originate from same vendor while the macro eNB does notnecessarily be originated from that same vendor. The central managingentity, the cSON, determines semi-statically allocation of air interfaceresource blocks to specific eNBs/UE categories/spatial domain(s) fornon-coordinated use, and also determines allocations of certainpartitions for coordinated use by two or more eNBs (step 600). Theinformation about the specific allocations, as well as about thepartitions which use will be coordinated by the two or more eNBs, istransferred to the eNBs 510, 520 and 530 (step 610). It should be notedhowever that a single partition in coordinated use may be allocated tothe whole cluster of metro eNBs as shown for example in FIG. 4. The eNBsof the metro cells, 530 and 540 exchange X2 signals between themselves(step 620) and perform X2-based ICIC optimization only for thepartitions allocated for coordinated use (step 630). Each of thesepartitions (allocated for coordinated use) may be used by one or byseveral eNBs. In the partitions allocated for non-coordinated use allthree eNBs 520, 530 and 540 will follow the allocations of resources asset by the cSON (step 640), whereas in the partitions allocated forcoordinated use, the relevant eNBs (namely, 530 and 540) will follow theallocations of resources as set by the messages interchanged by theseeNBs themselves.

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 illustrate methods of carrying out interferencemitigation by using coordinated and uncoordinated air interface resourceblocks according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which isdifferent from the prior art method illustrated in FIG. 1. Theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, relates to the case where a time basedpattern having the length N=2 radio frames, is used.

In the description and claims of the present application, each of theverbs, “comprise” “include” and “have”, and conjugates thereof, are usedto indicate that the object or objects of the verb are not necessarily acomplete listing of members, components, elements or parts of thesubject or subjects of the verb.

The present disclosure has been described using detailed descriptions ofembodiments thereof that are provided by way of example and are notintended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way. The describedembodiments comprise different features, not all of which are requiredin all embodiments of the disclosure. Some embodiments of the presentdisclosure utilize only some of the features or possible combinations ofthe features. Variations of embodiments of the present disclosure thatare described and embodiments of the present disclosure comprisingdifferent combinations of features noted in the described embodimentswill occur to persons of the art. The scope of the disclosure is limitedonly by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for dynamic allocation of airinterface resources in a cellular network comprising at least threewireless cells within a geographical proximity of each other, the methodcomprising: a) determining, by a central managing entity, one or moreclassification rules for classifying a plurality of mobile devicesaccording to the one or more classification rules; b) providing, by thecentral management entity, to a group of base stations associated withthe at least three cells, information that comprises: b.1) informationthat relates to the determined one or more classification rules; b.2)information that relates to semi-static allocation of blocks of airinterface resources for use by one or more specific members of the groupof base stations, wherein said blocks of air interface resources enablecommunications between base stations and mobile devices communicatingtherewith that match one or more classification rules, and wherein nocoordination is carried out between any member of the group of basestation and any other member of said group regarding the use of theblocks of air interface resources; and b.3) information that relates toallocation of blocks of air interface resources for use by at least twomembers of the group of base stations, said blocks of air interfaceresources enable communications between base stations and mobile devicescommunicating therewith that match one or more classification rules, andwherein coordination is carried out between at least two members of thegroup of base stations regarding the use of the blocks of air interfaceresources; and c) exchanging generated messages between at least twomembers of the group of base stations and coordinating which part of theblocks of air interface resources allocated by the central managemententity as being resources for coordinated use, will be used by each ofthese at least two members.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein an airinterface resource block is characterized by at least one member of thegroup that consists of: interval time for transmission, transmissionfrequency, and a set of subcarriers.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: d) repeating step c) to reestablish which part of airinterface resource blocks allocated by the central management entity forcoordinated use, will be used by each of the base stations.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein step c) is repeated every pre-defined periodof time, which extends up to few hundreds of milliseconds (msec).
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein step b) is repeated at a frequency which isless than that at which step c) is repeated.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein information related to coordinated use of a particular airinterface resource block, includes settings of transmission power forcontrol and user planes at the base station or at a mobile device forwhich said air interface resource block is allocated.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein information that relates to allocation of blocks of airinterface resources according to step b) is communicated to respectivebase stations in a form of time based periodic pattern having a lengthof a number of radio frames.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein thecellular network is a heterogeneous cellular network (“HetNet”)comprising at least one macro cell and at least two small cells, alllocated within a geographical proximity of each other, wherein the groupof base stations comprises at least one base station associated with amacro cell and at least two base stations each associated with adifferent small cell, and wherein the at least two members of the groupof base stations that exchange messages with each other in order tocoordinate which part of the blocks of air interface resources allocatedby the central management entity for coordinated use, will be used byeach of these at least two members, are the at least two base stationsassociated with small cells.
 9. A communication system to dynamicallyallocate air interface resources in a cellular network comprising atleast three wireless cells located within a geographical proximity ofeach other, the communication system comprising: (I) a centralmanagement entity that comprises: (a) one or more processors thatoperate to execute instructions, wherein when executing saidinstructions, said one or more processors operate to: (a.1) determineone or more classification rules for classifying a plurality of mobiledevices; (a.2) provide to a group of base stations associated with theat least three cells, information that comprises: (a.2.1) informationthat relates to the determined one or more classification rules; (a.2.2)information that relates to semi-static allocation of blocks of airinterface resources for use by one or more specific members of the groupof base stations, wherein these blocks of air interface resources wouldenable communications between base stations and mobile devicescommunicating therewith that match one or more classification rules, andwherein no coordination would be carried out between any member of thegroup of base station and any other member of that group regarding theuse of the blocks of air interface resources; and (a.2.3) informationthat relates to allocation of blocks of air interface resources for useby at least two members of the group of base stations, wherein theseblocks of air interface resources would enable communications betweenbase stations and mobile devices communicating therewith that match oneor more classification rules, and wherein coordination would be carriedout between at least two members of the group of base stations regardingthe use of the blocks of air interface resources; (b) one or moretransmitters that operate to convey the information generated by saidone or more processors, towards the group of base stations; and (II) agroup of base stations configured for use within the at least threecells, and wherein each of the base stations comprises at least onetransceiver that operates to exchange information with the centralmanagement entity and with at least one member of the group of basestations, and at least one transceiver operates to exchange generatedmessages with a plurality of mobile devices associated therewith, andwherein at least two members of the group of base stations exchangegenerated messages in order to coordinate which part of the blocks ofair interface resources allocated by the central management entity forcoordinated use, will be used by each of these at least two basestations.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein an air interface resourceblock is characterized by at least one member of the group of basestations that consists of: interval time for transmission, transmissionfrequency, a set of subcarriers.
 11. The system of claim 9, whereininformation related to coordinated use of a particular air interfaceresource block, includes settings of transmission power for control anduser planes at a base station or at a mobile device for which said airinterface resource block is allocated.
 12. The system of claim 9,wherein the at least two members of the group of base stations furtheroperate to repeat the exchange of the messages to enable reestablishingwhich part of air interface resource blocks allocated by the centralmanagement entity for coordinated use, will be used by each of these atleast two base stations.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein the one ormore processors of the central management entity further operate tore-define at least one of the one or more classification rules forre-classifying at least one of the plurality of mobile devices and theinformation provisioning to a group of base stations associated with theat least three cells, at a frequency which is less than that at whichthe at least two members of the group of base stations exchangemessages.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein the cellular network is aheterogeneous cellular network (“HetNet”) comprising at least one macrocell and at least two small cells, all located within a geographicalproximity of each other, wherein the group of base stations comprises atleast one base station associated with a macro cell and at least twobase stations each associated with a different small cell, and whereinthe at least two members of the group of base stations that exchangemessages with each other in order to coordinate which part of the blocksof air interface resources allocated by the central management entityfor coordinated use, will be used by each of these at least two members,are the at least two base stations associated with small cells.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage media storing one or moresequences of instructions which when executed cause one or moreprocessors of a central managing entity located in a cellular network toperform operations, comprising: determining one or more classificationrules for classifying a plurality of mobile devices according to the oneor more classification rules; providing to a group of base stationsassociated with at least three cells information that comprises:information that relates to the determined one or more classificationrules; information that relates to semi-static allocation of blocks ofair interface resources for use by one or more specific members of thegroup of base stations, wherein said blocks of air interface resourcesenable communications between base stations and mobile devicescommunicating therewith that match one or more classification rules; andinformation that relates to allocation of blocks of air interfaceresources for use by at least two members of the group of base stations,said blocks of air interface resources enable communications betweenbase stations and mobile devices communicating therewith that match oneor more classification rules, and wherein coordination is carried outbetween at least two members of the group of base stations regarding theuse of the blocks of air interface resources; and exchanging messagesgenerated between at least two members of the group of base stations andcoordinating which part of the blocks of air interface resourcesallocated by the central management entity as being resources forcoordinated use, will be used by each of these at least two members. 16.The media of claim 15, wherein an air interface resource block ischaracterized by at least one member of the group that consists of:interval time for transmission, transmission frequency, and a set ofsubcarriers.
 17. The media of claim 15, the operations furthercomprising: reestablishing which part of air interface resource blocksallocated by the central management entity for coordinated use, will beused by each of the base stations.
 18. The media of claim 15, whereininformation related to coordinated use of a particular air interfaceresource block, includes settings of transmission power for control anduser planes at the base station or at a mobile device for which said airinterface resource block is allocated.
 19. The media of claim 15,wherein information that relates to allocation of blocks of airinterface resources is communicated to respective base stations in aform of time based periodic pattern having a length of a number of radioframes.
 20. The media of claim 15, wherein the cellular network is aheterogeneous cellular network (“HetNet”) comprising at least one macrocell and at least two small cells.